Emerge Marketing Solutions received the “Outstanding Marketing Collaboration” and “Outstanding Social Media Execution” awards for its work with Evolution of the Heartland at the 2024 Iowa Tourism Conference hosted by Travel Iowa on March 20.
“It was an honor and a surprise to receive these two awards from Travel Iowa,” said the owner of Emerge Marketing Solutions and the visionary leader behind Evolution of the Heartland. ” he said. “We would like to thank all of our partners who invested in our cause and believed in us enough to make this vision a reality in rural Iowa. We truly could not have gotten this far without them. After attending this year's Iowa Tourism Conference, we knew we had arrived in rural Iowa. There is no better time than now to showcase the evolution of the heartland.”
Emerge received the first award on behalf of the marketing collaboration between Travel Iowa. Iowa Farm Bureau (including Audubon, Shelby, and Carroll County Farm Bureaus); Southwest Iowa Community Foundation. Iowa Commodity Group: Iowa Corn, Iowa Beef Industry Council, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Turkey Federation, Iowa Food & Family Project (Iowa Soybean Association). Local community organizations: City of Manning, Audubon County Economic Development and Tourism, Main Street Manning, Manning House Barn Heritage Park, Audubon County Fairgrounds, and Nathaniel Hamlin Museum. Various influencers: Farm Babe, Michelle Miller, Darcy Molesby, Olio of Iowa – Megan Bannister, Des Moines Parents – Erin Hoyatt, Ceara Kirkpatrick. We have 15 local farm and agricultural private tour locations in the Manning, Audubon, Carroll, and Templeton areas.
Heartland evolution
“We wanted to create and execute an authentic agritourism experience focused on rural Iowa in a way that no one had effectively done before,” Graving said. I am. “Our ultimate goal is to educate people about rural Iowa's evolution. Change perceptions of rural life and agriculture. Opportunity to visit, play, work, and live in Iowa with its exceptional quality of life. and ultimately inspire others to pursue the American Dream right here in Iowa.”
Through multiple local and statewide strategic partnerships and sponsorships, the first Evolution of the Heartland event was held on August 31, 2022 at the primary venue of Manning House Barn Heritage Park. The second annual event was hosted by Manning/Audubon on August 3, 2023. Because more than 90 percent of Iowa's communities are made up of rural communities, Greving emphasized the importance of this effort going beyond one or two communities. So Emerge Marketing and his team are working to bring Evolution of the Heartland to more rural communities in Iowa and expand the experience across the state over the next five years.
Their vision of replicating agritourism events across the state and allowing more rural communities to benefit is already becoming a reality. This year, the Evolution of the Heartland Experience will be held in four of his communities in Iowa. DeWitt is his July 25th, Stanton is his Sept. 12th, Coon Rapids is his Sept. 26th, and Manning is his Oct. 3rd. Registration for all events will begin on May 1st and will be limited to 50 people per venue. Registration closes three weeks before each event or when all slots are reserved. He has a $25 per person discount for early registration, which ends on June 1st. Participants can sign up to be notified when registration opens at www.evolutionoftheheartland.com.
emerging marketing solutions
Emerge Marketing is a local marketing organization owned by Sherry Graving of Manning. Graebing, along with a team that includes Katie Lang (from Sextro, Manning), Claire Zeiger (Olsen, from Audubon), and Annie Graebe (Carol), is working to revitalize rural Iowa, improve communities, Working to support non-profit organizations and businesses. We build the foundation for small towns in Iowa through a variety of marketing services including brand development, business consulting, digital marketing, fundraising, social media management, strategic planning, video production, website development, and more.
This is the third year in a row that Emerge has won the Travel Iowa Award, specifically the Social Media Execution Award. In 2022, he won the award for his video series “Iowa's Off the beaten path,” which promotes Iowa's rural communities. In 2023, Wright County will be working on digital promotions for the Fair and now Evolution of the Heartland social media marketing efforts. Emerge has received additional awards on behalf of clients in the past. Among them are the 2017 “Outstanding Niche Market Initiative Award” for his Look Local First initiative with DeWitt Chamber & Development Company and the “Outstanding Promotional Materials Award” for social media marketing with Manning. Hausbahn Cultural Heritage Park, 2017.
“We are so grateful to the talented Emerge team for working tirelessly to showcase our rural communities and take our digital marketing efforts to a new level,” said Greibing. “So if you are a visionary leader and have a passion for rural communities, please contact us. Agritourism is one of Iowa’s priority areas highlighted at the conference. And there's no better time than now for our small town to shine. I can't wait to see what the future holds for our rural community.”
